Screw-dummy for sewer-pipe dies



t e e h s w e nu h s 2. RL E T S 0 UI F. A

(No Model.)

` SGEEW EUMMY EOE sEWEE PIPE DIES.

Patented June 12, 1894.

jI- Ven t 011,

At es t;

(No Model.) 2 Sheets--Sheet 2.

A. F. FOSTER. SGRBW DUMMY P0P. SEWER PIPE DIES.

No. 521,445. Patented vJune 12, 1894.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED F. FOSTER, OF'AVLTON, ILLINOI.

SCREW-DUIVIMY FOR SEWER-PIPE DIES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 521,445, dated June 12,1894.

Application filed April 22,v 1898. Serial No. 471,392. (No model.)

-in the county of Madison and State of Illinois,

have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Screw-Dummies forSewer-Pipe Dies, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to sewer-pipe dies, andr has for its principalobject to utilize mechanical energy in unlocking the socket-plug of thesocket-die from the main body thereof after the formation of thebell-end of the pipe.

My invention consists in an attachment for applying mechanical power toturn the socket plug of the die; it also consists in the particulararrangements and combinations of parts hereinafter shown and described.

In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification,Figure 1 is a plan of my device applied to asewer-pipe die which isshown in section on the line 1-1 of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectionof my device on the line 2-2 of Fig. l, showing the die in elevation.Fig. 3 is a front elevation of my device. Fig. 4 is an end elevationthereof, omitting the lever fork; and Fig. 5 is a sectional detailshowing the guide in which the threaded block travels.

An ordinary sewer-pipe press consists of an upright receptacle for theclay, to the lower end of which is fastened the pipe-die. This dieconsists of a hollow cylindrical neck, 1, provided with a iiange at itsupper end for securing it to the clay-cylinder or receptacle. The lowerend of the neck has a bell-shaped extension. Inside of the hollow neck,is a circular bell or cone, 2, which is fixed in position by a standardpassing through the clay receptacle or cylinder and supported fromabove. The bell-shaped extension of the die is closed by a socket-plug,3. This socketplug consists of a head-block or plate and an inwardlyextending circular portion, 4., iixed thereto, whereby said circularportion is adapted t0 enter said extension,leaving an annular spacebetween them. The socketplug is journaled on the upper end of a verticalshaft or post, 5, so as to rotate thereon. The socket-plug is providedwith lugs, 6, in its circumference, and the die is provided withdepending hooks, 8, corresponding thereto, arranged so that a partialrotation of the plug will cause said hooks and lugs to interlock andhold the plug in position against downward pressure. lThe post or shaft,5, on which the socket-plug is journaled, is arranged to move verticallyin guides, and in order to facilitate such movement, a counterweight isgenerally connected to said socketplug. l A piston in theclay-receptacle is rigidly connected to the piston of a steam cylinderfixed above said receptacle. When steam is admitted to said cylinder,the pressure on its piston is transmitted to the piston in theclay-receptacle, and the moist clay is forced through the annularchannel between the neck of the die and the bell inside thereof, fillingthe annular space between the socketplug and the extension of the die,and thereby forming the bell-end of the pipe. After the socket-plug isunlocked, the piston in the clay-cylinder forces the mass of moist claythrough the annular channel between the neck of the die and the bellinside thereof, so as to form the body of the pipe.V During theformation of the bell end ot' the pipe, the socket-plug is locked by thehook-and-lug locking devices, and on account of the adhesion of theclay,great power is necessary to turn andunlock said socket-plug, to permittheformation of the body of the pipe. The dummy now to be described isdesigned particularly for unlocking said socket-plug.

A screw-threaded shaft, 9, is journaled in a fixed frame, lO, and acorrespondingly screw-threaded block or crosshead, 1l, travels alongsaid shaft. This block or crosshead is represented as having its edgesbeveled and the frame as having slotted plates, 12, corresponding tosaidedges to serve as guides, though, obviously, numerous other devices maybe used to keep said block from turning. The block has a pair of arms,13, diverging downwardly and an upwardly extending standard orprojecting piece, 14, for the belt shifting rod or bar, 15. Alever arm,16, fixed to the socket plug, 3, is arranged to lie `between thediverging arms of lever fork, 13. The threaded shaft, 9, is part of orrigidly connected with a shaft on which are three pulleys of the samediameter arranged side by side. The intermediate pulley, 17, of thethree is fixed to the shaft; the other two pul- ISO leys, 18, 19, areloose and of twice the width of the ixed pulley, 17. Belts, 20, 21,communicate motions of opposite directions from their driving shaft orshafts to the respective pulleys onto which they are shifted; andwhichever belt occupies the fixed pulley, 17, gives direction to therotation of the shaft, 9, and therefore to the direction of travel ofthe threaded block or crosshead, 1l, thereon.

In order to shift the belts, a longitudinally sliding bar, 15, isarranged in standards, 14, one of which may be fixed to the travelingblock or cross-head, 11, as shown. This sliding bar is provided with thecom mon loopsor guides, 22, through which the belts run, and which areso arranged as to keep the belts the width of the intermediate pulleyapart. The sliding bar is provided with a pin 23; and a bell-cranklever,24, pivotedto the frame,

has an elongated slot, 25, in one arm, through which said pin passes,and theother arm is provided with a handbal', 26, or other suitabledevice for operating the lever. shifting mechanism is adjusted so thatat its extreme movements one belt or the other drives the fixed pulley;but in the intermediate position of the shifting device, both belts areon the loose pulleys at the same time, the belts being always separatedfrom each other by slightly more than the width of the xed pulley.

A` tappet or set-collar stop, 27, either ixed or adjustable, is providedon the shifting bar, 15, on each side of the standard or other Iixedprojecting pieoe,14, on the traveling block. As the main function of thewhole attachment or dummy is to turn the socket-plug of the die, thesetappets should be so located on the bar, that the standard or otherprojection shall strike such tappets and move the bar and shift the beltfrom the fixed pulley as soon as the socket-plug has made a suthcientturn to lock or unlock its lugs. The location of the tappets to eectthis result may easily be determined by a skilled mechanic.

The operation of this device is as follows: Suppose the bell-end of thepipe to havebeen formed as hereinbefore described, but still in the die.In this position, the socket-plug is locked by the hooks and lugs, andits lever arm lies between the depending arms or fork of thescrew-threaded traveling block; and the two belts are running ontheloose pulleys so that the screw-threaded shaft is not rotated. Inorder to disengage the socket-plug, the operator pulls the hand-barattached to the bellcrank lever. The motion of the bellcrank lever iscommunicated by the pin-and-slot connection to the sliding bar, and themovement of the sliding bar shifts one of the belts onto the fixedpulley of the screw-threaded shaft. The rotation of the serewthreadedshaft thus effected causes the cross-head or block which fits thereon tomove longitudinally along its guides, and the movement of this travelingblock causes its depending arm to carry with it the lever arm of thesocket-plug of the die, and thereby turn the socket-plug itself so as todisengage its lugs from the hooks of the die. As soon as thelugs aredisengaged from their corresponding hooks, the socketplug, which is heldin place by its counter-Weight, is free to be moved downwardly as thepress forces the clay through the pipe former. The socket-plug thusserves as a platform for the pipe as it issues from the die. Thetraveling block continues to move until itsl upright or projecting piecestrikes and moves the tappet of the sliding bar so as to shift the belto of the xed pulley and thereby stop the motion of the shaft.

`In setting the device for a repetition of this operation, thesocket-plug is raised to the die, the diverging arms of the travelingblock determining the proper position therefor by serving as guides forits lever arm. For this purpose, the divergence of the lower ends ofsaid arms should be great enough to allow for the rotary motion of thesocket-plug in its downward movement andn also for the movement of thescrew-threaded block after the socket-plug is moved down. When the socket-plug is raised, the operator manipulates the bell-crank intheopposite direction to that given for effecting the above-describedoperation, thereby shifting the belts so lthat the belt which in thatoperation ran onthe loose pulley now runs on the fixed pulley, andthereby reverses the direction of rotation of the shaft. The travelingblock is thus moved backwardly, carrying with it the lever arm of thesocket-plug and the lugs of the socketplug are thereby brought intoengagement with their corresponding hooks, whereby the socket-plug islocked in place. W'hen the socket-plug is lockedgthe projecting piece onthe traveling block strikes and moves the tappet on the sliding bar soas to shift the driving belt ontoa loose pulley, and the operation stopsautomatically.

Numerous changes in the details may read ily suggest themselves, and Ido not wish to limit myself to the precise construction shown, nor tothe use of my invention only in oonnecton with sewenpipe presses. Byreason of the power being applied by means of the screw-thread, thedummy acts steadily and evenly and is especially free from any sud denjerk, which it is important to avoid.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination with a die having a socket-plug, of a mechanism formoving said socket-plug, said mechanism consisting of a screw-threadedshaft and means for driving the same, and a screw-threaded block workingthereon, and means for transmitting the motion of said threaded block tosaid socketplug, substantially as described.

2. The combination with a pipe die having a rotary socket plug andalocking device therefor, said sockebplughavinga lever arm fixed thereto,of a device `for applying power to said lever arm, said devicecomprising a screw-threaded shaft and means for driving ICO IIC'

